This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from March 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Effective formative assessment can improve student learning. Explore how the use of infographics as a formative assessment strategy can both engage students and improve learning. This workshop will help you understand what infographics are, what makes them effective, and how powerful they can be when infused into content-area instruction. Infographic creation requires the application of a range of critical skills, such as synthesis, analysis, organization, and creativity. In order to summarize and convey information correctly, clearly, and concisely, students must understand the material and their audience. Join us and learn how to get started using infographics for formative assessment. Participants will: 1. Understand what infographics are and the elements that make them effective; 2. Explore strategies for using infographics to gather evidence of student progress; and 3. Plan for student use of infographics as formative assessment. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from March 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Enrich and improve student writing with digital storytelling - giving written stories voice, imagery, and power. Learn to promote higher level thinking while students develop creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills to take narratives to the next level. In this workshop, we will begin by exploring ways to improve writing with story development steps and tools; discover tech tools for editing and sharing student drafts; and finally, discuss strategies for collaborative writing. Participants will: 1. Learn how digital storytelling can enrich narrative writing; 2. Discover ways to improve narrative writing with story development steps and tools; and 3. Explore a variety of web-based tools and resources to improve writing. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

Think of this site as a digital, illustrated encyclopedia of environmental words and terms. Choose any entry to find beautiful images along with complete encyclopedic entries and additional resources. Use filters to search by keyword, grade level, or subject.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the information on this site for use throughout the school year. Consider choosing an entry each week to share with students and explore further. Use a bookmarking site like Symbaloo, reviewed here, to share other links on the same topic. Ask students to locate information on Google Maps and create a story to tell about their topic using a site like Heganoo, reviewed here. Heganoo allows you to create interactive maps including images, videos, and more to tell a story.

Tour some of the Smithsonian Museum's most treasured objects through 3D models and scientific missions. Through the use of 3D digitization techniques, the museum is rapidly adding content and collections to this site telling never-known stories about the museum's treasures. Use the site's search features to find models; some also include tours with additional information. Choose videos to learn how curators on the 3D team captured and shared information. Select the educators portion of the site to download an ebook interdisciplinary learning experience combining technology and history in the study of Abraham Lincoln. For help in using this site, be sure to visit the Getting Started portion including directions on how to use the tools. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos on this site may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as ClipGrab, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of these many resources to take a virtual visit with your class to the Smithsonian Museum. View artifacts and tours together on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector then allow students to explore on their own. After viewing a tour, ask students to research a topic further. Instead of a written book report have students create an online quiz or game for fellow students using a quiz tool like Arcade Game Generator, reviewed here, or Quiznetic, reviewed here. Use a video response tool like Flipgrid, reviewed here, for student collaboration and sharing of research. Ask students to create their own virtual field trip using Google Earth, reviewed here. Have students add articles, images, and videos to locations featured on their virtual trip.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from February 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Making a learning environment accessible for everyone is critical to a successful inclusive classroom. Today's classrooms are diverse and include English Language Learners and students with learning challenges, whether they have been identified or not. Every teacher needs to be able to create and deliver content in a way that is accessible to each individual student. Fortunately, teachers already have free technologies at their disposal to assist with this. Join us as we explore strategies and tools that facilitate an inclusive learning environment. Participants will: 1. Understand the importance of accessibility; 2. Explore Microsoft tools that can be used to create accessible materials; and 3. Identify an easy new habit, hack, and/or tool they can adopt to help make material accessible for their students. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from January 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Inspire technology integrated lessons for student learning based on web-based resources. Learn about the features and benefits of your free TeachersFirst membership. This session will briefly share how to find and use resources on TeachersFirst to help you save time. Remember, it is OK2Ask questions at any time! Participants will: 1. Explore TeachersFirst membership features; 2. Identify and share resources to support classroom instruction; and 3. Prepare to use the features of TeachersFirst membership to maximize student learning. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

PyeongChang 2018 is the official 2018 winter Olympics site from the South Korean Olympic organizing committee. This site contains information for attending the games including transportation, hotels, and information on purchasing tickets. Choose the Spectator Guide link to download apps containing information for spectators including event updates and daily news for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

In the Classroom

Use this site to follow the latest information from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. If students use mobile devices, share the link to download the official app. Ask students to share stories from the Olympics using an online bulletin board like Padlet, reviewed here. Padlet allows users to create columns for posts, add columns to sort information by country, sport, or daily events throughout the Olympics. Have students make video recordings sharing daily updates during the Olympic games using a tool such as My Simpleshow, reviewed here. Share videos using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here. As a final project, have students create a Symbaloo Learning Path, reviewed here, to share information learned. Symbaloo Learning Path's offer the ability to add videos, websites, and quizzes into an interactive learning experience.

This short article shares information from an interview with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his desire that the 2018 Winter Olympics bring peace to the countries of North and South Korea. In the interview, the South Korean president compares the 2018 Olympics to the 1988 Seoul Games and his belief that those games were an essential piece to ending the Cold War era.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Although this article is short, it has many possibilities for use to introduce debate and discussion about the role of the Olympics in international politics. Share the article with students to read at home or independently at school before the start of the Olympics. Gather student comments and reactions to the article using an online bulletin board like Lino, reviewed here. As the winter Olympics progress, ask students to share articles reinforcing or reputing the president's view on a blogging site such as Telegra.ph, reviewed here. With Telegra.ph you just click on an icon to upload images from your computer, add a YouTube or Vimeo, or Twitter links. This blog creator requires no registration. Use FlipGrid, reviewed here, to record student video discussions of interactions between Olympic nations and predictions on how those interactions may or may not lead to long-lasting peace. As a final presentation, ask students to use Story Maps, reviewed here, to analyze events and stories from the Olympic games. Story Maps allows users to create stories using the power of maps and geography.

Smarthistory is a collection of videos and essays for the study of art and cultural heritage from the Paleolithic period to the present time. Explore the different topics on the home page including a brief history of western culture, learn the difference between art and crafts, and a short history of religion in art. The videos reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as ClipGrab, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Share this site on classroom computers for students to explore on their own or in groups. Have small groups divide up the topics to investigate. Then have students with the same topic meet together to become the expert on that topic (in cooperative learning, this is known as Jigsaw). Have each student in the Jigsaw group create an Awesome ScreenShot, reviewed here, where they can make digital notes with lines, text, or shapes. Once they form back into their original small group they can report what they learned to the other group members. Instruct students to collaborate using a mapping tool such as Click2Map, reviewed here, to create and label a map with information found on Smarthistory and additional research. With Click2Map students can include display markers featuring text, photos, and videos! Challenge students or groups to make a multimedia presentation sharing the art and heritage of different countries using a tool like Visme, reviewed here, where students can choose the type of interactive presentation they would like to present.

View and explore 3D models of The British Museum's artifacts on Sketchfab, reviewed here. Load any model then use your computer controls to turn and view all angles. Many also include audio describing the background of the statue or figure. Choose the VR option to view using webVR or your cardboard VR viewers. Use your 3D printer to recreate most figures from this site.

In the Classroom

Share models on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Include models as part of your study of ancient and British history. Share with students with advanced knowledge of gaming and 3D as a resource for sharing their own 3D models and viewing materials made by others. If your school has a computer club, share this site with its sponsor for use with students. Do you or someone on your campus have a 3D printer? Explore and find printables to download and print. If you don't have access to a 3D printer, you may want to write a grant for one. See GetEd Funding, reviewed here, for grant writing.

Discover how different cultures perceive and use color through a series of videos and articles from CNN Creative. Scroll through the home page to view options for colors then select a color to watch the video. Learn interesting facts such as which color is the world's favorite and why yellow makes us happy.

In the Classroom

Include this colorful series with lessons about our senses, cultures, and art. Use information from the videos to understand and analyze images from around the world including typical forms of clothing worn or great works of art. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here, to demonstrate cultural uses of color.

GNG Webcast Series offers ongoing webcasts including lessons encouraging global conversations in today's pressing issues. Download curriculum from previous webcasts and view recordings on topics including elections and gun violence. For upcoming webcasts, creators suggest downloading and completing activities before the broadcast. For those who have a keen interest, download a mobile app to experience the virtual reality lab. The previous webcast recordings are videos that reside on Youtube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Freemake Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Discover the many previously recorded webcasts and free lessons to share a global perspective on many issues in your classroom. Create an online survey or a poll using Updwn, reviewed here, to have the class vote on an upcoming webcast in which to participate. If you have a Skype teaching partner, consider completing activities together as part of your participation in the webcasts. After completing activities on this site, have students make a multimedia presentation sharing what they have learned using Sway, reviewed here, or Canva, reviewed here.

Timeline Eons presents the history of the world from the Big Bang through current time on an interactive timeline. Additional events predict changes to the earth 22,000,000,000 years in the future. Scroll left or right to move through developments on the timeline or set the timeline to run automatically. Zoom in to view events or use the search feature to find specific events. Many events feature an illustration or photograph; others include a short video. When viewing on a computer, choose the link with three dots on the upper-left side of the screen to see information on the timeline's features.

In the Classroom

Have students explore the timeline on their own, then research and share information on any given period of time. Encourage students to view future predictions on the timeline as a research project to find the basis of the predictions. Have students create a simple interactive infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here .

What do Archimedes, Pythagoras, and Srinivasa Ramanujan have in common? They all enjoy a spot on this site of famous mathematicians. Begin with an overview of mathematics over time starting with Thales of Miletus from 624-546 BC through Andrew Wiles' solving Fermat's Last Theorem in 1994 on the site's homepage. Learn about different mathematicians by choosing from the alphabetical list (alphabetized by first names) found on each page. Also worth exploring is the site's blog featuring groups of 15 famous mathematicians by different categories including women and Greek mathematicians.

In the Classroom

Although this site doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, it contains a great deal of historic and biographical information on famous (and perhaps, not so famous) mathematicians. Bookmark the site to use as a resource for a mathematician of the week to feature in your classroom. Choose a student to share information on the mathematician of their choice with classmates through a multimedia presentation using Lucid Press, reviewed here. Challenge students to develop a fake social media presence about one of the mathematicians using Fakebook, reviewed here, or the Twitter Fictional Account Template, reviewed here.

The Memory Palace is a storytelling podcast created by an Artist in Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Choose any episode to listen online to a real-life story, and view some notes about the podcast. At the time of this review, there were 113 captivating stories, the latest being Elmer McCurdy Rides Again and Again; he's "an outlaw sent to his maker at barely past 30 but not to his grave..." Use tags to find episodes with similar content. Optionally, subscribe using iTunes or an RSS reader and automatically receive new episodes.

In the Classroom

You may want to consider choosing the link Where Do I Start? to begin your journey with this podcast. This section contains the author's personal favorites. Listen to weekly podcasts together in class to stimulate discussion and interest in art and history topics and the art of storytelling. Assign the weekly podcast as listening homework. Some of the comments may suggest songs and other stories that are similar. After you've invetigated those, share them with your students. Have students create a series of questions to ask each other about issues discussed on the podcast. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a site such as Buzzsprout, reviewed here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from November 2017, opens in Adobe Connect. Transform your classroom activities by learning how to use Sutori. Engage students and deepen content area knowledge through digital stories. Text, audio, video, discussion forums, and quiz questions bring additional context to content area instruction for your students. Use student-created visual stories and timelines as formative assessment. Brainstorm with others how you and your students can use Sutori in your classroom. Participants will: 1. Learn basic use of Sutori; 2. Explore three different ways to use Sutori in the classroom; and 3. Plan for the use of Sutori in the classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from October 2017, opens in Adobe Connect. Dust off your digital passport and join us on a journey using the new Google Earth web. Learn the key features of Google Earth web and how to incorporate this powerful tool into your classroom instruction. The reimagined version of Google Earth includes features that go beyond the use of maps and satellite imagery. Users can now explore the world with Voyager, Google Earth's showcase of guided tours, and try out the 3D button to view places from any angle. Leave with classroom ideas and lesson planning resources. Participants will: 1. Get acquainted with the key features of Google Earth web; 2. Explore interactive guided tours with Voyager; and 3. Start building your own Tour for Google Earth web. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

Explore over 5,000 years of art in three exciting ways at this vibrant site from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Along the menu at the top find Explore the Map, where you choose red or yellow markers to explore fun facts and videos about art from all over the world. Next, hop into the Time Machine to learn more about specific time periods, geography, and big ideas such as inventions or creatures. Also find, Watch Videos that teach about celebrations, share art made by kids, or provide detailed directions for creating your art.

In the Classroom

This site is perfect for use on classroom computers for students to explore on their own. Ask them to find information for a specific period of time or country and label what they find important using Webnote, reviewed here, then share their findings on a timeline (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Enjoy the videos for creating and sharing art in your classroom. Take a virtual field trip with your students on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector as you explore the museum together.

This archived Twitter chat is from May 2017. View this archive to learn tips and tools to use when teaching social studies. Find ideas about how to incorporate more social studies when your time is limited during the school day. Browse the strategies offered by the chat moderators and participants.

In the Classroom

Is your social studies time limited? Check out this archived chat for tools and tips to use in your class to make social studies stretch past the limited time allotted. Share this tool with your colleagues interested in learning more tips and tools to use in social studies lessons.

Learn about children and youth in history through primary sources, case studies, and teaching modules available from this extensive site. As you begin your exploration of primary sources by world regions take the time to read the introductory essay that includes strategies for using these items successfully. Be sure to take advantage of the well-developed teaching modules including lesson plans, teaching strategies, and more.

In the Classroom

Save time with the ready-to-go, free resources found on this site during your studies of geography and cultures. Compare and contrast life in your area to those around the world. Have students create maps using Animaps, reviewed here, as they learn about children around the world. Students can add text, images, and location stops!